By PREDRAG MILIC
Podgorica, Montenegro: At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were seriously wounded on Wednesday in a shooting rampage that followed a bar brawl in a western Montenegrin town, officials said.
The gunman died from his injuries on Thursday after attempting suicide, the country’s Interior Minister, Danilo Saranovic, said.
Police investigators work at the site of a shooting in Cetinje, 36 kilometres west of Podogrica, Montenegro.Credit: nna\EMcPherson
The gunman, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, attempted suicide near his home in the town of Cetinje, and died from his injuries while en route to hospital, Saranovic told state broadcaster RTCG.
Martinovic was on the run, with special troops sent to search for him, after opening fire on Wednesday afternoon at a restaurant in Cetinje, 38 kilometres west of Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital. He killed the owner of the bar, the bar owner’s children and his own family members, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said at a news conference.
The shooter then moved on to three other locations, killing at least six more people, including two children, police said. Four other people suffered life-threatening injuries.
“The level of rage and brutality shows that sometimes such people ... are even more dangerous than members of organised criminal gangs,” Saranovic said.
Martinovic was at the bar throughout the day with other guests when the brawl erupted, said Police Commissioner Lazar Scepanovic. He said that Martinovic then went home, brought back a weapon and opened fire at around 5.30pm.
“He killed four people” at the bar, before heading out and then continued shooting at three more locations, said Scepanovic. “He tried to take the lives of four more people, and then fled with the vehicle he was using, which we have found.”
Rescue workers work at the site of the shooting in Cetinje.Credit: AP
He said that the suspect received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behaviour and had appealed his latest conviction for illegal possession of weapons. Montenegrin media have reported he was known for erratic and violent behaviour.
Montenegro, which has a population of 620,000, is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally have weapons.
Wednesday’s shooting was the second shooting rampage over the past three years in Cetinje, Montenegro’s former royal capital. An attacker also killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before he was shot and killed by a passerby in Cetinje.
President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy ... we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said on the social media platform X.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the wounded were being treated and announced three days of mourning.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” Spajic said.
AP
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